New Duties, Same dream
by NoNameNeeded
Summary: Naruto has left Konoha for good, because, after he brought back Sasuke, people have hated him even more and he was tired of it. He trains more and works harder to fulfil his new dream. DISCONTINUED, though I'll probably use the bloodline in another fic
1. Hate

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...**

**On with the show... umm... story...**

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Two weeks ago, a boy of twelve years, clad in an orange jumpsuit, had been found lying unconscious, near the brink of death, in the valley of the end. He had been tracked and found by his sensei and one of his sensei's nin-dogs, who brought him back to Konoha, immediately dropping him off at the hospital. He had been found to have broken nearly all of the bones in his left arm and three of his fingers on his right hand, whilst he had ripped a muscle in each of his legs. He had also suffered from severe bruising and extreme exhaustion. That is why it had taken him these two weeks to finally wake up from his sleep, even with the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of him, though he would have died during the battle if Kyuubi wasn't sealed inside of him.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was the blinding white ceiling of the room he was in, making him squint his eyes shut until he got use to the light. Then he noticed the white walls and bed-spread, along with a plain wooden door. It was then when he realised that he was in the hospital and it was then when he remembered what had happened before he had slipped into unconsciousness. Sadness spread across his face when he thought about that, though he had no idea what the outcome of it had been, but he was sure that he hadn't won.

A couple minutes later, the door opened, a nurse entering swiftly, looking down on a clipboard which she had in her hand. When she looked up, she dropped the clipboard, running out of the room, returning within a few seconds accompanied by a doctor, who went over to the boy to check how he was doing, with a shocked expression on his face, probably because he hadn't expected the patient to wake up, at least not after a mere two weeks.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine, except the whole of my body feels really bruised or something…"

"That's normal. How's your head?"

"Slightly dizzy, but otherwise fine."

"Good. Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah, why? "

"Oh no, I don't want to know what happened, I just had to check if you were suffering from memory problems, as you had taken quite the hit to the head."

"Oh…"

"Now, I just need to take your temperature and another blood test."

"Another blood test? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, in the two weeks that you have been out…"

"Two weeks?!"

"Yes, now let me finish; I need another blood test because we have been taking one every other day, since we noticed that it kept on changing. We have no idea why this is or what is happening. It is simply so incredible. We have no other records of such a thing happening."

"Is it something bad?"

"Oh no, at least, I don't think so, as I said before, we have never seen or heard of anything like, or remotely close to this."

_Knock, knock…_

"Well, I'm done, so I'll let you and your visitor, have some time alone." With that, both the doctor and the nurse left, as the visitor entered.

"Granny Tsunade, what are you doing here?"

"Oh Naruto, I was so worried about you and as soon as I heard that you had woken up; I came straight here." Tsunade said as she embraced Naruto in a hug, careful as to not hurt him anymore then he already was. She then released him, but not completely as she was holding his shoulders gently whilst looking into his eyes, but he wasn't looking back at her, instead, he was looking at one of the walls. "Are you okay Naruto?"

Naruto nodded slightly, but Tsunade could tell that he was unsure.

"What happened to Sasuke?"

"He was found unconscious next to you. He was in the hospital as well, but he has been out for a couple of days now. His arm is broken and his ankle sprained, but otherwise he is fine apart from a few bruises everywhere. He just needs to take it easy." Naruto had been staring out into space throughout the whole explanation, but subconsciously took it all in. "Are you sure that you're okay?" Tsunade had a worried expression on her face and she made no attempt at hiding it.

"… What, oh yeah… I'm fine, just a bit rough… it's just that… the doctor said something about my blood changing… Do you know what is happening?"

"No, I'm sorry Naruto but I have absolutely no idea. But to be honest, I'd rather not know too much about it, if you know what I mean."

"What? Oh yeah, with your hemophobia and all." Tsunade let out a little chuckle.

"I guess I have to go now. I'm sure that I have some paper work waiting for me…" Tsunade stood up and left the room, as soon as she closed the door, Naruto heard a frustrated scream, he knew who it was.

"THAT DAMN PAPERWORK!"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh, though it didn't last that long. After sitting on his bed for about half an hour, including him having his blood test and temperature taken, he became extremely bored and decided that he would leave the hospital and go for a walk. At first it was hard and painful, but he soon got use to it. As he was leaving he was stopped by the doctor from earlier.

"Please, don't go. You have to stay and rest. We'll also be needing for tests from you."

"I'll come back when you need the tests, but I want to go outside, it is such a beautiful day and it is so boring just sitting inside that white room."

The doctor thought for a moment before coming to a decision. "Alright then, but you must use a crutch, as you can't use two due to your broken arm. And you must return immediately when the next test is to be taken." The doctor then went over to a storage closet and pulled out a crutch, handing it to Naruto who took it reluctantly. Naruto then waved to the doctor before leaving, steadying himself on his crutch.

The first place he visited was the training grounds where team seven had had Kakashi's bell test. He smiled to himself as he remembered what had happened, but then he scowled when he remembered that he had ended up being tied to one of the stumps. But the scowl soon disappeared when he remembered when his two teammates had given him some of their food, which was why they had passed the test in the end. Naruto then began thinking about his teammates; Sasuke, he was always so up himself and obsessed with getting his revenge; Sakura, she was also too obsessed, except it was with Sasuke… Naruto had always been nice to her, but she was never nice back…

Naruto decided to end his thoughts there as he decided to go back to his apartment. The people he passed on the way were all giving him evil glares of both hatred and fear, even more then they had ever done before. This got Naruto a bit nervous, he wasn't sure why they were all acting like this. But his question was soon answered as the pink haired kunoichi came running at him, shouting his name out loud for everyone to hear. At first, Naruto thought that she was coming to thank him for bringing back her precious Sasuke. But then he saw the expression on her face.

"Sakura, what's wrong?!"

"Oh Naruto, don't play innocent! You know what you did! You bloody hurt my Sasuke-kun!" She then came up at him and threw a punch which hit him straight in the jaw, sending him flying a couple meters back and landing hard on the ground, shooting pain up his back and though his chest as he still wasn't healed.

"Sakura, please sto…"

"You could have killed him! He's injured and he can't even do that much training! I HATE you!" Those last three words hit the spot. Naruto, shocked at what he had just heard, hurried back to his apartment and locked the door. He then sat down on his bed heavily and began to think.

_That's why all of the villagers look at me that way… they're angry at me for hurting their precious Uchiha… They think that I really am the demon, even more then before… And Sakura…. She… she said that she hated me… she didn't even notice that I was in an even worse shape then her Sasuke-kun…_

'_**Oi kit…'**_

'_Huh… Oh, it's you Kyuubi… What do you want?'_

'_**Why do you stick around in this place…'**_

'_Well, that's because… umm… well, because…'_

'_**I knew it… You don't even know anymore. If you ask me, then you should ditch this God forsaken place and find somewhere else… Train and become strong, to prove that you aren't weak…'**_

'_Weak? How did we get to that?'_

'_**Well, I don't' want to be sealed inside of anyone, let alone a weak fleshbag…'**_

'_I guess… But I can't just leave…'_

'_**Sure you can, there's nothing holding you back. Just pack your stuff and walk though those gates. Even you can do that.'**_

'_But…'_

'_**No buts, just go. No-one is here to prevent you, not even Tsunade as she has her duties a Hokage. Honestly, why do you even want to be Hokage if the people you'll be protecting are like this.'**_

'_What? Are you telling me to give up my dream? The one thing that has been keeping me going, all this time?'_

'_**No, I'm telling you to get out of this dump, and change your dream slightly, instead of Hokage, why not a different Kage?'**_

'_A different Kage? I never though of that.'_

'_**Of course you didn't, that's why I'm telling you now, so pack your bag and get the hell out of her. I'll even give you some of my chakra so that you can increase your speed and get out of here without anyone even noticing. It'll take a week before anyone figures out that you're gone. Now, PACK YOU BAG!'**_

'_Ok, ok… No need to get your tails in a twist…'_ With that, Naruto began to search through his closet, choosing which outfits to bring, though he had little to choose from. He decided against bring his famous orange jumpsuit, as it held too many memories, too many 'painful' memories after he leaves. Instead, he chose his black t-shirt which he would normally wear underneath the suit, he then went to the back of the closet and found some clothes which he had but had never worn, which consisted of; a black t-shirt where the sleeves had been ripped off, a dark blue long sleeved, a pair of dark grey cargo pants, dark green baggy trousers and a pair of black fitted trousers. Along with that, he had another pair of shinobi sandals, except these were black and went to about mid shin. He also had a pair of black fingerless gloves.

After that, he went over to his bedside table and took his photo of team seven. He looked at it for a while before placing it in his bag. He got a couple on instant ramen, placing them in the bag as well, along with all of his kunais and shurikans. When done, he took two pieces of paper and a pen and began to write two letters.

He then got changed and decided to wear his black t-shirt along with the dark green baggy trousers and his high, black shinobi sandals and his black fingerless gloves, hey, less to carry if he wears some of it. He also got all of his money and put it in a hidden pouch situated on the side of his trousers. He removed his hitai-ite, placing it in another pocket and finally he placed the two named letters on the bedside table, before opening the door, taking one last look at his old apartment and closes the door, locking it with the key.

'_You happy now, Kyuubi?'_

'_**We're not out of the village yet…'**_

'_Well, we're nearly there, so I think it's time for you to lend me some of your chakra so that we can get out of here without anyone noticing.'_

'_**Fine, fine… but get ready, as you'll suddenly speed up and watch out you don't lose your balance.'**_

'_Don't worry I won't._

'_**Good, now here it comes…'**_

Naruto could feel the rush of energy passing through every single vein and muscle in his body, his urge to sprint increasing within every second until he couldn't hold it in any longer. He took in a deep breath and started sprinting, his pace so fast that no-one could see him, not even an ANBU who had the sharingan. With in two seconds he was at the gates, but he didn't stop, he jumped up as high as he could, flying over the top of the wall and landing with a thump on the ground before carrying on with his running. He could feel the heat building up due to all of the running and forces acting on him, so he decided to slow down to his normal pace once he thought that he was a safe distance from the village.

'_Happy now?'_

'_**Yes, and I say good riddance.'**_

'_That's a little harsh, don't you think?'_

'_**Not after the way they treated you.'**_

'…'

'_**You okay kit?'**_

'… _Yeah… It's just gonna be weird…'_

'_**Hey, I'm still here, and to make it up to you, I'll train you personally myself.'**_

'_Hey, really? Cos that would be so awesome.'_

'_**Yeah, yeah… Now let me get some sleep whilst you go and find somewhere to stay, but not in a village, find a cave or something…'**_

'_Sure thing Kyuu… Kyuu?... Already asleep, how boring…'_ With that Naruto carried on his search for a place to stay, not having a single doubt about leaving Konoha, they had shown him that he wasn't wanted, and if he wasn't wanted, then he wouldn't waste his time there. He would find a new home, where there were people who would want him there, they would be his precious people.

After a couple of hours, Naruto had come across a well hidden cave in the side of a small mountain. When standing at the entrance, you could barely see inside, but you could just about make out that it slowly descended down a couple of meters and that there was a large circular base in the cave.

'_Hey, Kyuu… wake up!'_

'_**Huh… Why did you have to go and wake me up, I was having…'**_

'_Yeah that's nice and all but I've found a cave for us to stay in.'_

'_**What, oh I see. Not bad, not bad.'**_

'_You know what… I'm feeling a bit sleepy. I think I'll juts catch a couple hours of shut eye…' _Naruto didn't manage to finish as he had thrown himself down onto the cold, hard floor and fell asleep instantly, followed shortly by Kyuubi.

_**Three days later in Konoha…**_

_Knock, knock…_

"Enter."

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?"

"Oh yes, Sakura. I haven't heard anything from Naruto in a couple of days and I was wandering if you have seen him. He left the hospital three days ago, even though he was told that he needed to rest, but you now him, he can't stay in one place too long."

"Um, no, sorry. But I haven't seen him."

"Really, well would you mind going to check his apartment. I'm sure he's just been resting or something."

"Hai." With that, Sakura left and started her way towards Naruto's apartment, though she really didn't want to be the one to go get him, she would do anything to get out of this, but the Hokage's orders are the Hokage's orders, so she has no choice in the matter. As she drew nearer to the door, she took and turned the handle, but found that it was locked. _Huh… that's weird, Naruto never locks his door…_ She then jumped up to his window and opened it, jumping inside the same time. _Huh… no-one here, and it's even tidy for a change. This is odd, even for Naruto._ She then looked around, checking the kitchen and the bathroom, but still, no Naruto. She then noticed that there were two notes on the bedside table. One said it was for Tsunade, the other for… herself… _Something must be wrong…_ Sakura grabbed the two letters and jumped back out the window and headed to the Hokage's office.

She went straight through the door, not even bothering to knock on it. When inside, she saw that Tsunade had fallen asleep on top of her paperwork, with a small, empty bottle in her hand and a little dribble of drool falling from the corner of her mouth, even though it was only the afternoon. Sakura sweatdropped at the Hokage before she went over to her to wake her up.

"Wha-what is it? Why did you wake me up? I was having such a good dream…"

"But Hokage, I couldn't find Naruto; his apartment was completely clean, his orange jumpsuit was laid out on his bed, his door was locked and he left these two notes on his bedside table." She handed the one addressed to Tsunade to said person, who looked at it with a look of confusion in her eyes before opening it.

_Dear Granny Tsunade,_

_Before I say anything, I just want you to know that I did this on my own accord. No-one forced me and I am fine. I have left Konoha and I won't be coming back. There is no need for me to stay as no-one wants me here. I must thank you though; because you have been so kind to me, you will hold a special place in my heart. You were like my grandma, and I loved you like one. I don't want you to think this is your fault as I know that you have duties as the Hokage. Say good bye for me to Iruka as well. I will miss the two of you the most. Say good bye to the third as well, as I did not get the chance to do so myself. _

_If you must place me as a missing-nin, then do so, as I know what must be done. But just so you know, I won't become a threat to Konoha, that's a promise, and I never break a promise. That's my nindo, my ninja way. I'm sorry for leaving and not saying good bye in person. Do what you wish with my old apartment as I have no need for it anymore._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

By the time Tsunade had finished reading the letter, tears were already rolling down her cheeks she didn't even try to hide them, she just let them fall. Her little brother was gone, her little sunshine. She couldn't believe it, what had happened that made him want to leave. Of course all of the villagers gave him glares and such because of his tenant, but why now if it was because of that. There must have been something else. Sakura's letter might have the answer.

"Sakura, read your letter." Said girl opened the one addressed to her and began to read it.

_Sakura,_

_I hope that you'll be happy with your precious Sasuke-kun. Don't worry, I won't be here to bother you anymore, I won't be around to be nice to you and I won't save you again. I'm out of your life now, for good. Destroy all of the evidence of me being on your team, I'm sure that would make you happy. Do what you want, I really don't care anymore._

_Uzumaki Naruto_

When Sakura was done, her expression was different from that of Tsunade; she was both confused and slightly relieved, mostly the former. Did he leave because of her? Tsunade saw the expression on Sakura's face and asked to see her letter, but Sakura didn't let her which angered Tsunade greatly.

"Give me damn letter, or you'll wish that…" Sakura handed her the letter immediately as she didn't want to hear the end of the threat. Tsunade grabbed it and read it, her eyebrows slowly gathering together in the middle of her forehead.

"SAKURA! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Tsunade stood up so fast that if you blinked you would have missed it. She was gripping the edge of her desk so hard that it began to crack. There was a deadly silence, Tsunade's anger growing each second. Eventually she couldn't hold it in anymore, she screamed "GET OUT!" before throwing her desk at the door right after Sakura had run out of it. Tsunade quickly slumped back down in her chair and began to cry , endless amounts of tears flowing from her red and puffy eyes. Shizune swiftly comes in after hearing all of the commotion and, from seeing her mistress in this condition, asks her what is wrong.

"Naruto's gone…"

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**Okay... I hope you enjoyed that, I'll try and update as soon as I can, but that will most likely be next weekend... School, what's a person to do...**


	2. Training

**Okay, good... I managed to get this out before the weekend... cool... Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, it really means a lot to me... Enjoy...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, so that's why I write fanfiction... Makes sense, no?...**

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For the first week since Naruto found the cave, he spent all of his time making it comfortable for him to live in, as he would be spending a long time there, with all of the training that he would be going through. His meals had consisted of him going out into the forest to find and kill an animal, usually a rabbit, with the odd deer as well. He had used there fur coats in his home, as blankets for his bed and such. The bones had been made into tools and utensils. He had made a door, for the opening of the cave, out of wood, but made sure that it didn't look like anything handmade, at least not from the outside, as on the inside was an intricate design; leaves, vines and flowers everywhere, along with carvings of wildlife, with a fox in the centre, after much begging from Kyuubi, okay, it was actually an order. Naruto had gathered rocks and built a small, but good sized fireplace, with a large stack of firewood next to it. He had stumps in there as tables and stools and in the centre, was a cooking stove which he had made, with very detailed description of how to do so from Kyuubi, as he honestly had no idea of how to make a stove. But in the end, it was just a large flat stone which was raised above the ground so that firewood could be placed underneath; who knew it would be that simple.

Anyway, after that week, Naruto began his training.

'_Um, Kyuu, how will you be able to train me when you're inside of me?'_

'_**Well, kit, you could summon me, but you would have to sign the contract first.'**_

'_I didn't know that there was a summoning contract for the foxes.'_

'_**Well, there is, it's just that no-one has signed, or been able to sign it for that matter… hehehe…'**_

Naruto sweatdropped as he could see the expression that the fox had on his face. _'Urr… Kyuu, as much as you're welcome to day dream and stuff, we were kinda in the middle of something.'_

'_**Quite right, anyway, I'll make the scroll appear so that you can sign it, it's the same way as you did when you signed the summoning contract for the toads, except more chakra is needed for a summoning, which is lucky for you.'**_ There was a _poof_ and a large red scroll, with a black binding, appeared in front of Naruto. He opened it to find all of the spaces completely empty, true to the foxes words. He bit his thumb, signed it and dabbed is fingerprints at the end. When done, the scroll _poofed_ away in the same manner as it appeared.

"Okay, here goes nothing 'Summoning Jutsu'!" Naruto shouted as he bit his thumb and pressed it to the ground whilst releasing a huge amount of chakra. There was an enormous _poof_ of smoke and there, in front of the blond, stood the one hundred meter tall; Kyuubi, but only one tail was present, instead of nine. Within a couple of seconds, Kyuubi had shrunk to the size of a large wolf.

"**Oh yes, it feels so refreshing to be out of that wretched cage. I can finally stretch myself."**

"Urr… Kyuubi?" Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop at the scene; in front of him was the most feared of all demons, except that he looked like an adorable, yet, large fox, though it had sharp claws and teeth, it looked incredibly cute. "Umm… Kyuubi?"

"**Oh yes, training. But, before we get to that, do you remember the doctor at the hospital, telling you something about your blood changing?" **Naruto nodded.** "Good, now, for the past week, whilst you were making the cave more… homely, I've been studying your blood, intrigued by what the doctor said, and found that what he said was absolutely true; your blood is, indeed, changing."**

"So, do you know what it is? Is it a bad thing or a good thing? Is it…"

"**Be quiet, you're giving me a headache. Now, as I was saying, your blood has been changing, but the rate in which it has been changing is slowing down. I have detected a large amount of metallic alloy in your blood circularity system, which is unknown, even to me. I have a couple of theories as to why this is happening, but firstly, I would very much like to see what it looks like in the real thing. So, take a kunai or something sharp, and cut your arm, allowing some blood to trickle down."**

Naruto did as he was told, determined not to get on the foxes bad side. He ran back into his cave, grabbed a kunai and came back out with it, making a small, but deep enough slit in his arm to allow blood to flow out. To Naruto, his blood looked pretty normal, but Kyuubi seemed to have found something very interesting about it, by the way he was looking at it.

"… **Yes… I see… Very interesting… Hmm… I wonder… Hmm…"** Kyuubi carried on like this for a solid ten minutes, before he looked up, more like down, at Naruto, with a large grin on his face, bearing some of his sharp, glistening white teeth.

"Umm… Did you find what you were… urr… looking for?"

"**I think I did, but to prove it, try controlling your blood to flow down, into your palm."** Naruto gave a questioning look, but as soon as he remembered the teeth, he tried and, miraculously, the blood that was previously dripping down from his arm, was now collecting in a small pool in the palm of his hand, which was currently facing the ground, making the pool of blood defy gravity. Kyuubi chuckled lightly at Naruto's wide eyed expression.

"**Very interesting, but now, close your eyes and imagine that you're holding a shurikan in your hand, the hand with your blood in… concentrate!"** Naruto did as he was told, closing his eyes and focusing on imagining a shurikan in his hand, until, suddenly, he felt something solid in his hand and he opened his eyes wide to look in his hand, only to find that there was, indeed, a shurikan in his hand.

"Bu… but how?..."

"**When you began to imagine the shurikan, your blood began to harden and take the shape of a shurikan, also changing colour to that of the object. After seeing this, I believe that what the doctor had noticed was that your blood was changing from that of your normal blood to this blood, which contains the high traces of the unknown metallic alloy. I think that you'll be able to use your blood and transform it into any metallic item, which would become very useful when out in the battlefield. Not to mention, it would save money which would have been spent on buying new weapons. Also, as you'll be using your blood, it will regenerate in your body so that you won't suffer from blood loss."** Naruto sat there for a few moments, putting it all together, not quite understanding everything, but getting the basic idea of it all. When finished thinking, he asked,

"So do you mean that I can make anything with my… blood." A chill went up his back as he said the last word. He didn't have a fear of blood or anything, he just thought that it was a bit creepy that he could mould and control his blood like that.

"**Only metallic objects, nothing more."**

"Oh, ok. That's cool I guess…"

"**Once you master it, it will become extremely, how do you say, cool… That doesn't sound right when I say it… Argh!" **Kyuubi scowled. But stopped when he heard some laughter coming from his blond companion. **"What's so funny?!"**

"Hehe… Nothing… Haha…" Naruto stopped as he wiped a tear away from his eye with his finger, then he stood up abruptly. "So… Are you going to train me or what?"

"**Kids these days; no patience whatsoever." **Kyuubi turned around and took a few steps away from the blond before turning his head around to face Naruto. **"You coming or what?"** It was more like a hidden order then a question, but Naruto understood that as he followed the fox over to a large, but well hidden, clearing. Kyuubi stopped and turned around to face Naruto. **"Okay, your training starts here. You will have to listen to everything I tell you and do what I say you must do, understood?"** Naruto gave a curt nod. **"Good. Now, do you see that large tree over there? The one with the widest trunk?" **A nod replied. **"Good, now, I want you to go over to it and punch it, first with your left, then with your right and repeat. Don't stop until I return or until you have made a hole through it. You may use any tricks apart from a jutsu. Now, I'm going to go and get some sleep." **Naruto sweatdropped at his new sensei's obsession with sleeping at peculiar times, but waved it off as he headed his way towards the tree which he would be training on.

_**Back in Konoha…**_

"I'm sorry Tsunade, but we can't find any trace of Naruto. It's like he has completely disappeared. My nin dogs couldn't even track him, even after they got a good sniff at one of his blood tests." Kakashi informed.

Tsunade carried on looking down at her desk, she still couldn't believe that the hyperactive blond was gone. In her mind, she was furious, at the way that the villagers had treated him, at the way Sakura, his own teammate had treated him. Before Naruto had left, she was going to take Sakura as her apprentice, but now, that would never happen. She would make that girls life a living hell, so much that she would wish that she was dead, reborn and killed again.

"The blood from the hospital is no use. His blood structure and scent has been changing everyday, there is no way for you to track him that way." Tsunade rubbed her eyes with two of her fingers, trying to wake herself up as she has been lacking a lot of sleep during the last couple of days. "You may leave, but before you go, could you find Sakura for me. I need to have a word with her." Kakashi shuddered as he heard her say the last part in a very maniacal way. He sure felt sorry for Sakura for getting on Tsunade's bad side, though he had no idea how she had pissed her off.

"Yes, of course Hokage-sama." With that, Kakashi was gone in a _poof_, to find the pink haired kunoichi. He found her at her house, in her room, reading a magazine, which he didn't bother to acknowledge as he informed her that the Hokage wanted to talk to her. She gulped loudly, whilst her hands began to shake slightly, before muttering something which Kakashi couldn't make out as she headed for the door to go and see the Hokage.

A couple minutes later, Sakura was standing outside of the door which lead to the Hokage's office, grimacing as images flashed through her mind of what Tsunade might do to her. She took in a long breath, and knocked. When hearing a 'come in', she entered accordingly, firstly peeping her head round the door and closing it as she stood as far away from Tsunade as possible. She gulped again before saying, "Um, you wanted to see me… Hokage-sama?"

"Of yes, Sakura, just the person I wanted to see. I have a mission for you, actually, I have several missions for you. All of them solo, so you'll be on your own. After you complete the first, return back to me to report immediately and then you'll receive the next. Now, your first mission is to for and help out at the local pig farmer, as he has broken his arm from being crushed by one of his prized giant pigs. He wants you to feed them and to clear out their pens, preferably every hour, as the pigs can get very… messy…" Whilst Tsunade had been saying this, a grin had been spreading across her face until it could stretch no further. Indeed, she was enjoying the look of fear on Sakura's face.

"H-ha-Hai!" Sakura mumbled before she left the room, at a rather fast speed, as to get away from the very intimidating Hokage.

Tsunade smirked to herself for two reasons; One; she had found a legal way to make Sakura regret what she had done to Naruto, and Two; she wouldn't have to hear the complaints from other ninja's who would have had to do all of the D-ranked missions which had now been given to Sakura. Yes, revenge can be sweet.

_**Back with Naruto…**_

Naruto had been punching the tree for an hour or two, barely making a dent in the tree, his knuckles had already lost the skin covering them and were incredibly sore, but he had to carry on training. _What did he mean by 'trick'?... I mean, I can't use any jutsus and my hands are already bleeding… wait, bleeding means blood, and blood means… oh Kyuubi is a sly fox, a very sly fox indeed…_ Naruto then closed his eyes and began to imaging the blood covering his hands, then turning into gloves, made of the unknown metal, which fitted nicely on his hands. Naruto carried on punching the tree, this time, the pain lessoned and the hits made larger dents in the tree. Yes, this was a very nice touch.

Within another three hours, there was a good sized hole going straight though the tree, and Naruto sat down by the said tree, waiting for his sensei to arrive. However, after about half an hour of waiting, he could wait no longer, so e decided to start on another tree, but this time, changing the format of his gloves; instead of just simple plates covering his knuckles, there were now spikes, also, on the middle joints of his fingers, there were also spikes, making each punch more effective.

Anther hour passed before Kyuubi decided to show up. **"What, you gave up on the tree I told you to practice on and chose to use another, smaller one. I though you never gave up."** Kyuubi said mockingly, but as he saw where the blond was pointing, he saw that the tree which he had been told to use, already had a hole in, a decent sized one as well. **"I didn't expect you to be done so early. Or did you figure out what I meant before."**

Naruto smiled as he held up his hands, showing off his gloves. Kyuubi smiled back, **"Very good. I do like what you've done with the gloves, makes them seem half descent. You're lucky that you figured it out, or I would have made you do the same thing, but with kicks instead of punches. So now, you'll be going for runs around the forest at your top speed, but, you'll also have to wear weights, like your friend, what was his name… who yes, I believe it was Rock Lee, no? Anyway, either you make some or I'll give you some, your choice."** Naruto thought for a second, adopting his thinking pose where he puts a finger and his thumb on his chin, whilst looking up at the sky. He made his decision and pulled off one of his cloves, using one of the spikes to draw some blood. After enough blood had been collected, he closed his eyes and when he opened them, he saw hid new weights. They were different from normal ones; they were dark, almost black, about five inches high and half an inch think. On them there was a design; smooth curves and slashes, like waves hitting the coast and there were three curved spikes sticking out in a line, so that, when worn, they would be facing away from the body. Said spikes served two purposes; One; he could use them to draw blood when needed and Two; they looked good. Kyuubi gave an approving smile, as he thought that the kid had some style, when not wearing orange. Well, at least it was his taste.

Naruto place two weights on his wrists and two on his ankles, applying chakra to them to increase their weight. Immediately, when done, Naruto's arms slumped down and his back arched slightly at all the new weight. Kyuubi let out a little chuckle.

"**Okay Kit, got going… NOW!"** At that instance, Naruto was gone, but a groan could be heard coming from him. **"Now… I can get some more sleep."**

_**Back in Konoha…**_

_Knock, knock…_

"Enter."

"…Um… Hokage-sama… I've completed… my mission…" After the last word, a large gulp could be heard coming from Sakura as she stood with her hands fiddling behind her back, waiting for the Hokage to reply. The Hokage took her time to reply, knowing that the suspension would make Sakura's fear grow.

"Very good. Now, your next mission is for you to baby-sit Fushigi Shizukesa's children."

"But… but she has like seven kids below the age of six… Isn't this meant to be a team mission?"

"Oh I'm sure you'll be fine doing this by yourself."

Meanwhile, in a house not far away from the Hokage tower, a blond haired girl was sitting on her bed, sniffling a couple tears as she carried on writing in her private journal. No, it wasn't the girls diary, but her own book where she would write her poetry. No-one knew that she liked poetry, let alone her enjoying writing poetry. So here she was, writing another poem of how she felt.

_Why did you go?_

_Come back someday._

_My love for you,_

_Won't be at bay._

_I cry each day,_

_Each every night._

_The grief within,_

_I try to fight._

_I love you so._

_Unbearable pain._

_The love from you,_

_I hope to gain._

Nearly all of her poems were based on one person, the person who she admired the most, the person whom she has had feelings, true feelings for since she can remember. Now that he was gone, she was heartbroken.

_I'll come for you._

_I'll find a way._

_Right when I hear,_

_Where you might stay._

_I pray to God,_

_That you're alright._

_It's been so long._

_I miss your sight._

The girl fell asleep as soon as she had written the last four words, all of which came from her heart.

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**Okay... I hope you all enjoyed that... but, I need some help... There are five Kages; Hokage, Kazekage, Raikage, Mizukage and what is the name of the last one? Also, the Hokage wears red, the Kazekage wears blue, what do the other three wear... If anyone tells me, I'll be sure to mention them at the top of the next chapter... Thanks so much...**


	3. Birthday Wishes And Ino

**Wow, thanks everyone for the reviews... I feel so loved... ANyway, I would like to thank the following people for the info which I asked for; Befread, Gamerguy623, Brolly501, S219, Narutofan1111, King of Darkness, Azriel of the Mist, Vnienhuis, KitsuneyJenfner, Your master, SimpleViet, Lordtorg22... Thank you all so much... These are very cool gurs (and girls) who are very good for getting info from. Thank you all again.**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Naruto, so... Enjoy...**

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"**Okay kit, I think you're done for today, you can go home now and rest or do whatever you want, just as long as you're not late for tomorrows training."** Kyuubi told Naruto as he had just returned to their main meeting point after yet another day of physical training, which Kyuubi had made sure was much tougher then anyone without special healing abilities would fail. For the past month, Kyuubi had been improving Naruto's fitness, stamina, endurance and strength, which he had said were extremely important. Indeed, Naruto was already much stronger, physically speaking, then he had been when he left Konoha. You could easily yell just by looking at him, he had lost all of his baby fat and some of his muscle was showing on his arms and legs. Naruto's weights had also been increased often, now weighing about fifty pound each, meaning that he had an extra two hundred pounds on him.

"Thanks… Kyuubi…" Naruto said in between breaths as he started his way back to the cave, his home. Truth be told, Naruto was extremely exhausted and couldn't wait to get to sleep. As soon as he reached his bed, he had fallen asleep and was deep in a dream.

_**His dream…**_

'_Monster!'_

'_Murderer!'_

'_Brat!'_

'_Demon!'_

'_You should be dead!'_

'_Your worthless!'_

'_You'll never be Hokage!'_

'_Dead last!'_

'_You're annoying!'_

'_You'll never measure up to anything!'_

'_Why do you even try when you know that you'll fail!'_

'_I HATE YOU!'_

'_I HATE YOU!'_

'_I HATE YOU!'_

_Why does no-one see me as I am, rather then what's inside me. _

_Why do they all feel that they have to torment me and tear me down._

_Sakura, why do you hate me so? When all I have done is try to make you happy. I risked my life for your happiness, but now I know that I will never do that again. I now know that what I though was love was just a stupid little crush._

_No-one cared for me. I was alone._

'_Congratulations, Naruto, you're now a genin.'_

'_You can do it if you try.'_

'_Protecting your precious people is what makes you strong.'_

'_I was worried about you.'_

'_Do you want to go get some ramen? My treat.'_

'_I believe in you.'_

'_I know that you're strong.'_

_Iruka… Granny Tsunade… You two truly cared for me… You treated me like, like family… Sarutobi… you were the first to see me as myself, not how the others saw me… You were my true precious people… _

_Hinata… you believed that I was strong and never hurt me… Shikamaru… you treated me like you did the others, sometimes even acknowledging what I could do… Chouji… You were always so nice… Shino… Though you were always so quiet, I respected you, and I believe you had some respect for me… Kiba… though you saw me as the dead last, we made each other laugh… Ino… you always like Sasuke, yet, there was something off about that, though I'm not sure what…_

_Rock Lee… We were friends and rivals… we both knew that you had to work hard to become strong… Neji… Though it took a while, you finally saw that I was more then just the dead last… Tenten… we didn't really know each other, but you were still so nice…_

_Sasuke… you were my friend… best friend… rival… brother… We both knew pain… we both wanted to achieve our goals… we helped each other, by being rivals…_

"**Oi, kit! Wake up… wake up!"**

"… wha?... Huh?... Kyuubi, what's happening?" Naruto said sleepily as he sat up, rubbing his eye with his free hand.

"**You were tossing and turning, like you were having a nightmare or something…"** At this, Naruto looked sadly down towards the floor, avoiding eye contact with the fox. "**You okay kit?"**

"Yeah… as you said, it was just a dream or something…" Naruto stood up lazily and headed to a metal bucket, which he had made and was filled with water, and splashed his face with some and took a drink from his hands cupping the water.

"Say, Kyuubi… we've been gone for a couple of weeks now… do you know what the date is by any chance?" Naruto asked as he turned his head to face the fox. Said fox looked up thoughtfully before replying,

"**I believe it is the twenty fourth of May… Why do you want to know?"**

"In two days time, it'll be Iruka's birthday… and I won't be there to wish him a happy birthday… But I'm not going back…"

"**You know, you could always send him a letter… I'm sure he'd appreciate that…"**

"Yeah… I'll probably do that actually… You know Kyuu, sometimes I forget that you're actually a demon…"

"**If I were you, I'd be careful about what you say, especially seeing as I'm your sensei and I am the one who could make each and every one of your days a living hell."**

"I know, but then you'd have to deal with me being annoying and complaining the whole time… and I'm sure you would not appreciate that, now would you?"

"**Well, well, well… It's seems the blond has finally thought of a slightly intelligent comeback for a change… maybe there is still hope for you yet…"**

"Haha… very funny…" Naruto retorted sarcastically. "But how would I write a letter when I haven't got any paper, or a pen for that matter."

"**Just try and think. What do you have?"**

"…Hm… well…" Naruto sat down abruptly and took on his thinking pose; which consisted of him looking up at the sky, or ceiling for this case, and having his thumb and index finger on his chin. "Nope, no clue."

"**I take back about there still being hope for you."** Kyuubi said in a monotonous voice, like he was serious and slightly dumbstruck, looking bored at the same time.

"Hey!"

"**Think Naruto… what do you have that you can manipulate to whatever you want it to be…"** Again, Naruto adopted his thinking pose, when all of a sudden, he jumped up and yelled,

"I got it now!" With a huge grin plastered on his face.

"**Took you long enough."**

"Um, Kyuu? Could I use one of the summoning foxes to deliver the message?"

"**Sure, why not. They need the exercise anyway…"** Naruto sweatdropped slightly, but then began with his letter.

_**Two days later in Konoha…**_

Iruka was sitting at his desk in his classroom, marking the papers of his new students who had just taken another test, even though it was his birthday. He was about halfway through them, when suddenly, a fox jumped in through the opened window. Said fox then walked over to Iruka and placed what looked like a squared metal sheet on his desk. The fox then disappeared in a _poof_. After a few seconds of him taking everything in, he remembered what the fox had left behind, so he decided to examine it.

The metal was dark and it didn't look like anything he had seen before, but when he turned it over, he found that there was writing covering that side. He dragged his finger along the sheet and he could feel the engraving of each letter he passed. The writing itself wasn't all that neat, but still readable.

_Dear Iruka_

_Happy Birthday. Sorry I could not be here and that I did not say good bye to you in person, but I had to leave immediately. I do miss you greatly and I hope you are well. For the past weeks, I have been training under my new sensei (my tenant) and I have become much stronger, though his training is extremely exhausting, I look forward to when I go to bed, as that is the only time I have to relax._

_Incase you're wondering why this letter was written on this slab of metal, the answer is simple; I had no pen or paper. Also, the fox that brought you this was a summoning. Yes, I have signed the summoning contract for the foxes, which I sought or regret, as now my sensei cannot just mentally pester me, but also physically. Oh well. _

_Along with this letter, there should also be a kunai. Give this kunai to Tsunade and tell her that she should try and compare it with my blood samples. This may sound confusing, but Tsunade will understand, just ask her about it. Tell her that I am fine and that I also miss her._

_Yours truly,_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

By the time that Iruka had finished reading this, a couple of tears had escaped, but he didn't mind. He knew that Naruto was safe and well, for the most part, and that he hadn't forgotten him. Also the fact that Naruto had taken the trouble to send him a letter on his birthday.

It was then that he remembered the last part of the letter; the kunai. Iruka looked on the desk and saw a kunai, which seemed to be made out of the same type of metal as the letter.

He then stood up, leaving the test paper on his desk and headed his way for the Hokage tower.

_**At the Hokage tower…**_

_Knock, knock…_

"Enter."

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and saw who was standing by the door.

"Kakashi. Any news yet on Naruto?"

"No. There is nothing. It's like he just vanished completely." At hearing this, Tsunade's mood took a drop.

_Knock, knock…_

"Enter."

Iruka opened the door and entered, closing the door behind him.

"Iruka. What brings you here? I would have thought that you would be at the academy."

"Well, I was. But then, I got something."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that a fox entered my classroom, and dropped this off for me." Iruka was now holding out the metal slab to Tsunade, who took it with a confused expression on her face. She then looked on it and also noticed the writing, so she began to read it. When she was done, she re-read it to make sure that it was real. There was a small smile on her face before she looked up at Iruka.

"Do you have the kunai?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot…" He stuck his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out the kunai, handing it to Tsunade. "Why does he want you to compare the kunai with his blood samples?"

"Before he left, he had been having blood tests taken every other day, as the doctors noticed that the structure of it had been changing. But none of us knew why, but now I have a feeling that Naruto knows what has happened."

"I see. Well, the letter seems to be made out of the same type of metal…"

Tsunade then began to examine the letter, comparing it with the kunai, nodding her head every now and then. All this time, Kakashi had been standing in the corner of the room, unsure what the two were on about.

"Umm, Tsunade… What is it that Iruka gave you?"

Tsunade smiled before answering, "It's a letter from Naruto. And this kunai is a little clue as to what was happening to his blood. Remember me telling you that it was useless to try and track him using the blood samples, because the structure was changing?" Kakashi nodded. "Well, it seems that Naruto has found out why, or at least what it has changed into. Though I'm not sure how a kunai is involved, but that is why I need to do some tests."

However, Kakashi didn't hear what Tsunade had said right after she mentioned Naruto's name. _Naruto…_ He had felt a bit guilty himself after Naruto had left. He knew that he hadn't treated his teammates fairly, giving more attention to Sasuke then the other two. That is why he was so determined to find Naruto, to prove that he did care about him. But it had been over a month, and he was still had no clue as to where he was, yet, here was a letter from the blond himself, meaning that he must be within easy communication. He must still be in the fire country, but where. He had even used his nin-dogs, but still, there were no results.

"… Yeah… what? Blood?"

"You weren't listening, were you?"

"…Um… No, not exactly. I stopped listening after you said Naruto." Kakashi replied honestly.

"Okay, you better listen this time because I won't repeat it again. Okay? Good. Now, before he left, blood samples had been taken as the doctors had noticed that the structure of the blood had been changing and no-one knew why. It was totally unheard of. So, since, Naruto had asked me to do some tests and the sort, I'm assuming he has found out something about it."

"So how is a kunai involved?"

"Erg… I don't know."

"Oh… I better be off now…" With that, Kakashi was gone in a _poof_.

"Anyway, thank you Iruka… Oh, and happy birthday by the way."

Iruka smiled before exiting the Hokage's office.

_**A couple hours later…**_

"Hokage… Hokage-sama. The tests are complete. We have the results." The doctor exclaimed happily as he was running towards Tsunade, holding the papers up and high in the air with his right hand, like they were too good to be near the ground. Tsunade sighed at the enthusiasm of the doctor, but was still greatful that he had done all of the tests personally, so as to get them done as quickly as possible, without any faults.

"Good, good… Now let me see." Tsunade demanded impatiently as the doctor was jumping up and down like an over excited little girl, clutching the papers close to his chest. Tsunade sweatdropped at the scene, placing her hand out demandingly so that she could receive the result papers, which the doctor eventually handed over, rather reluctantly, but nonetheless, the papers were now in Tsunade's possession.

She read through them slowly, so that she wouldn't miss out on any vital information. When she was finished, she thought. _The structure of the kunai is identical to that of Naruto's blood… Does that mean that he made the kunai… and the letter… but that's impossible, isn't it… Maybe he… I don't know…_

_**A few days later…**_

A blond girl at the age of twelve was standing nervously outside of the Hokage's office, waiting until the right moment to knock on the door. After a few minutes, she finally knocked, though it was softly done. She heard a 'Hn', signaling for her to enter, which she did.

"Ino… what brings you here?"

"Um… well… I was wandering if you…"

"Yes?... You can tell me…"

"I was wandering if you could… if you could let me go and search for… for Naruto…" Ino said quietly, whilst twiddling her index fingers together nervously, just like Hinata does.

"Why is it that you want to go search for him?"

"Well… It's because… because I miss him!" Ino said as she fell to the floor and began to cry. Tsunade looked at the girl with sadness in her eyes. She knew that Naruto was doing well, but the rest of the rookie nine hadn't been told anything concerning Naruto. But Ino was the last person who she expected to take it like this.

"Ino…"

"Please! Please just let me do this!"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to do this, however much I personally want you to. I'm sorry. But I can only allow jounins and above to go. I really am truly sorry."

Ino's crying began to weaken until she stopped. She then stood up slowly, still looking down on the floor. Suddenly, she felt arms around her and she looked up to find that Tsunade had embraced her in a hug. She hugged Tsunade back as a couple more tears escaped from her eyes.

"Tsunade, I'll become a jounin so that you can allow me to go. Even if it takes forever." Ino stated, with a vice of certainty.

Tsunade smiled at the young blond, indeed, she believed the her. "I'm sure you will. So you'll have to work hard to become strong."

"I will." Tsunade and Ino left each others arms as Ino departed, but not before her turning back to give the Hokage a small smile.

After that, Ino headed back to her family's flower shop, as she had to help out that day. She sat at the counter and guessed that there wouldn't be that many customers that day as it was perfect weather for going to the park or something, but, she stayed at the counter.

After about an hour of waiting, the door opened which was quickly followed by a bell ringing. Ino looked up with a cheerful smile on her face, but when she saw who it was, the smile disappeared.

"Mum! Could you just take care of the customer, I need to use the bathroom." Ino shouted up the stairs. Within a second, her mum appeared before Ino left, heading towards the bathroom.

"Sakura, what brings you here today?"

"Well, I actually came to see Ino, as we haven't spoken for a while."

"Why is that?"

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure…"

"Oh, okay then. You can just wait here until she comes back. Oh, and if a customer comes in, don't hesitate to fetch me. I'll just be upstairs"

"Okay…"

Minutes passed and still no Ino, at least, not until now. She came out and looked up to see that Sakura was still there.

"Hey Ino."

"Hn."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing… what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, I just wanted to come and talk to you, as we haven't spoken for a while."

"Why? Is it because you want to make my life more miserable. Don't you think you've done enough. Why don't you just quit before you make things worse for me." With that, Ino left the shop crying, leaving a very confused Sakura back in the shop.

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**Okay then, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter... I don't really have anything to say, so, until the next time...**


	4. New Start

**Okay, I know that I haven't updated this fic since June 28th, which was like nearly two months ago, but... I don't really have an excuse, but, that is why I have decided to try and update this fic some more now… But, in a way, this break could be seen as a time skip, but it was just me not writing an update**

**So I hope that you'll all enjoy this chapter…**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is yet to be in my clutches…**

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A year had passed where Kyuubi's intense training regime for Naruto had continued and increased in difficulty and effort. Kyuubi knew that Naruto had improved a lot in this time, but he didn't let him know that, he wasn't the type of person (demon) to do that openly. Also, Naruto's personality had changed quite a bit as Kyuubi was quite tired of how he was always shouting and complaining. He had been taught how to remain calm and when he had to be serious. His hair had changed from being outside so much; his once bright-yellow-blond hair now had streaks of lighter blond from the sun and was also longer, covering slightly over his eyes as Naruto didn't wear his head band, and simply let the hair droop over.

Due to the fact that Naruto had finished his last ramen cup after only a month, he hadn't been able to have anymore. However, this wasn't a bad thing as Naruto had finally begun to grow to just above Sasuke's height from a year ago, though he had no doubt that the teme was still taller then him, but he didn't mind, he wouldn't see him again… But whenever he thought of this, he became saddened, therefore, changing the subject abruptly. He had missed a lot of people greatly, but was, in a way, relieved, to be away from Konoha. But one thought had crossed his minds more then any other.

"Kyuubi-sensei?"

Kyuubi lifted his head from his paws, as he had been resting, as usual. **"What is it that is so important that you had to disturb me from my slumber?"** He demanded, though his voice had softened ever so slightly over the past year, but Naruto didn't want him to know that.

"You remember when… About a year ago, when you convinced me to leave Konoha… You suggested that I changed my dream… Aiming to become another Kage… But what I was wandering, was… Did you have any specific ones in mind?"

Kyuubi somehow adopted his own thinking pose, and began to think out loud. **"Wind Country is no good as they are allies with Fire Country, so they would quickly find out there… I don't really know how Earth Country is going to respond, so there si no point at risking it there… Wave Country… hmm, well, you've been there before and they liked you there… So that could be a choice. And Lightning Country… well, they despise Fire Country, so I doubt that you would want to go there… However, they would also embrace you there due to your one-of-a-kind bloodline, and Konoha would never find out that you were there…"** The Kyuubi paused. **"I guess that either Mizukage or Raikage would be best, so it's your choice, though I think I know which one you'll choose…"**

Naruto thought for a while, using his new thinking pose, where he would just close his eyes and block out everything around him, clearing is mind so that he could think without being influenced by anything or anyone else. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto opened his eyes, only to find that Kyuubi had gone back to sleep. Naruto's eyebrow twitched for a few seconds, before he got in under control.

"Um, Kyuubi… KYUUBI!" Said fox immediately woke up again, narrowing his eyes at Naruto before remembering the conversation that they were having before he feel asleep. He then raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I guess that I'll be seeing Inari soon. I did, after all, promise that I would come and visit."

The fox grinned. _**Mizukage… I knew it… **_**"I advise that you should make your way there, though… I'm not quite sure what'll happen… But hey, you don't know until you try…"**

The two then made their way back home; to their cave, which was now properly furnished thanks to Naruto's bloodline; he had made everything that he could with the unknown metal; ranging from simple bowls to a cooker (which was similar to the first one except that it was now a metal slab instead of the rock and the edges were raised along with it having legs to stand on, with enough room underneath for the small fire needed). Indeed, It wasn't a half bad place to live in. But… they would be leaving soon for their next destination, so this would be left where it was, everything in its place, if it was ever needed again, by either them… or perhaps someone else who was lucky enough to find it.

They had talked on the way to their cave of what they were going to do, and they decided that they would leave the following day after a good nights sleep. They would make their way to wave country swiftly, avoiding places and routes were they could come across people who might recognise them.

_**Back in Konoha…**_

Tsunade was sitting at her desk, just staring at the two piles of paperwork on her desk. The one on the right was very tall, whilst the other one was only a couple centimeters high, that was the pile which contained the completed paperwork, whilst the larger contained the uncompleted paperwork.

She let out a sigh, as her hand reached down into her secret draw, where she kept her sake, away from Shizune. However, it wasn't a bottle she pulled out, but a small photo album, one of her, if not her most cherished possessions. In it, she had six photos, each of them containing memories which she would always want to keep. The first photo was of the first and the second Hokage's; the second was her team photo, taken back when she was just a genin and when Orochimaru was still on their side; the third was of Dan, smiling the smile which she had loved; the fourth one was of Nawaki, her brother who had before his time; the fifth was of Shizune, Tonton in her arms; whilst the final photo was of Naruto, the last person in which she had gotten attached to. He was now gone, and she hadn't heard from him since he had sent the kunai along with Iruka's letter. With every passing day, she had grown more worried, afraid that he hadn't sent anything else because something had happened to him, or worse. She didn't even want to think about the possibilities.

She let out another sigh. Konoha was too quiet without the hyperactive blond. She missed him dearly, but somewhere inside of her, she knew it was for the best that he left. He hadn't been treated right here, the people of Konoha didn't deserve him. That was what she told herself everytime she looked at the photo of Naruto.

_**At team seven's old training grounds…**_

Ever since he had learnt that Naruto had left, Sasuke had decided that he would get stronger, not to kill his brother, but to get the dobe back. At the Valley of the End, when he had said that Naruto had become his best friend, he was telling the truth. Naruto was the only person who saw him how he wanted to be seen, not as an Uchiha, not as the guy who every girl in his academy class had fallen for, not as the rookie of the year, but simply as himself.

He missed the blond a lot, though he was annoying sometimes, but brothers were like that. Indeed, Naruto was also like a brother to him, and somewhere he hoped that Naruto felt the same way about him. Sasuke was determined to find the blond, but he had been told that he would have to be at least a jounin, like Ino had been told, though he didn't know, and so, that was why he wanted to get stronger, that was why he had to get stronger.

He had been at it for a few hours that day when he finally decided to take a break. He sat down under a large tree, enjoying the coolness of the shade it was providing. He sat there for a moment, just thinking. _Why did Sakura have to go and shout at him like that… She's so… so… I don't even know what!..._ Over the past year, he and Tsunade and gotten to know each other better. They weren't close but they could enjoy each others company. His respect for her had also gone up when he had found out about Sakura's 'punishment', which he thought that she deserved, also, it had helped to keep her busy so that she couldn't pester him. But now, she stayed away from him.

_FLASHBACK…_

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Wait for me… I have to ask you something…" The pink haired kunoichi shouted as she tried to keep up with Sasuke, who didn't stop to wait for her, but simply carried on walking, hoping that she'd somehow miraculously got the message. But, sadly, she had not as she was now clinging to his arm, with a wide smile on her face.

"Sasuke-kun… Would you like to go out on the date sometime? I know this grea-…" She was interrupted as Sasuke had finally snapped

"Sakura! How many times do I have to tell you that I. Won't. Go. Out. With. You! There is no chance that I ever will… especially after you drove Naruto away! Do you have any idea of how much pain that caused me?! No! You don't! You have no idea! None whatsoever! If you really paid attention to anything that had happened back then, then you would have realised something! You think you're so clever! But, in reality, you're only book smart and nothing else!" Sasuke's breath was short and deep as he had barely inhaled any air throughout his speech.

"Bu-… But what about w-when he hurt you back then. He shouldn't hav-…" But she was interrupted.

"No Sakura! Naruto was right back there! I was the one in the wrong! So why don't you just… just leave me alone!" He had meant every word which he said and was glad to have it out. He didn't even care when he saw the tears form around Sakura's eyes or when they began to flow down he cheeks. He didn't even care that she ran away, her sobbing echoing through the street that they were in. He was glad that he had gotten that out of his system. But, in a way, he was also saddened. Not because of Sakura, but of all of his memories of Naruto, flooding back into his mind.

_END FLASHBACK…_

Sasuke began to rub his eyes with his left hand. It was quiet without Naruto… or even Sakura bothering him the whole time. He had always thought that silence was what he wanted, but now, he would have preferred everything to be as they were before the chuunin exams.

The chuunin exams. That was when it all began, in Sasuke's mind. Sure, he was set on killing Itachi and would want power. But it was during the exam that he had been bitten and given to opportunity for power, though he now realised that that power would not be his, and besides, he knew that there would always be a price for things like power. And what the snake bastard wanted from him, he didn't know.

It was also during this exam that he had seen Naruto in a new light. Though he was a dobe during training and meaningless D-ranked missions, during battles and times where it really and truly mattered, Naruto was strong, stronger then most of the people that Sasuke knew, but he had a feeling that he hadn't seen how far Naruto could go. No, he knew that there was a lot to Naruto.

After he had seen Naruto's power, he had become jealous, though he wouldn't admit that to anyone, Uchiha's don't do that. But jealousy, that was something that close people shared. He would not let himself be blinded by his want for power or his jealousy anymore. No, now he would do things without the influence of others, except maybe Naruto, but without the jealousy of course.

He had decided that he had been resting for long enough now, so he stood up and carried on with his training.

_**One week later…**_

Naruto and Kyuubi were standing on the edge of the border of the Fire Country, with nothing but open water in front of them. They would have to cross the water if they wanted to reach Wave Country.

"**You sure about this kit?"**

Naruto didn't reply, but simply nodded, though it was determined nod. There was no looking back now.

Naruto applied chakra to his feet and began to walk across the water, running as soon as Kyuubi had done the same.

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter wasn't very long, but I kinda just had to get to this point, so I ended it here, where I would be able to carry on from in the next chapter. Which I will try and get out as soon as I can, though, as I said in my bio, my prep is my priority, which I am very sad about… Until next Time…**


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